The ultimate goal of any hotel is to have all of its rooms occupied, all year-round.

While this is typically not

possible, there are many ways hotels can go about bringing in more guests at any time of the year. The sales
strategies available to savvy hotel managers and owners are many, but their aim is always focused on one target:
to increase room nights.

Multiple Fronts
Hotels often advertise the same property in several different ways to attract key parts of the market that they
would like to gain as customers. You may see a glossy fashion magazine advertisement showing the suite-level
rooms in a particular hotel with copy and images aimed at the higher end of the market. The club level rooms in
the same hotel may then appear in a financial magazine with a completely different presentation to attract the
business traveler.And the hotel may run specials in local tourism guides aimed at families and budget travelers
who may prefer the hotel's standard rooms. In this way the same hotel can reach a broad audience in an attempt
to keep rooms at all levels occupied.

Travel Agents
Travel agents have long been a key part of the hotel sales strategy. Travel agencies provide an easy way to
multiply your advertising and brochure market presence at very little cost. In most cases, national travel agencies
create annual brochures, promotional fliers, TV and radio commercials and signage that feature key properties in
key destinations. Hotels that are able to secure such placement enjoy broad exposure to the many travelers
reached by all of these campaigns. In some cases, additional incentives are given to agents and travel companies
to secure a large number of reservations.

Membership Rewards
Hotel chains often have membership programs that cost nothing to join and reward frequent guests with extra
amenities, upgrades and free nights. Loyalty is an important sales tool for hotels, especially large chains with
locations around the country or even the world. If a hotel company can manage to create loyalty in its guests,
they are likely to look for and use the same brand every time they travel, if not for the experience, then for the
rewards they earn by doing so. Either way, the hotel wins.

Online Discounts
Many hotels and hotel chains offer special rates for online or smartphone bookings. Online bookings save the
time and effort of a real person at the hotel who must answer the phones and take the reservation. They also tend
to attract younger customers who are more tech savvy and who have a long life filled with future hotel stays to
come. Hotels ultimately are trying to build long-term relationships with their clients, and online discounts are
one important way to start it off. Smartphones also allow the hotel company to reach you at anytime, anywhere,
and this marketing tool can lead to more future bookings. The main drawback to online-only rates is that
travelers already on the road can't access them if they don't have the right technology in tow.

Low Season Specials

Some destinations have clear high and low seasons. Hotels that thrive during the high season may find a majority
of rooms open during their low period. In response hotels may promote low-season rates to attract guests to
rooms that would otherwise be empty. While the rates may be far lower than in-season prices, the hotel is happy
to offset the loss of empty rooms. The hotel also might recoup the difference through other charges and
purchases, like room service meals, parking fees, tours and concierge services and in-room Internet fees. None of
these fees would be collected if there were no bargain-rate guests present.

Cross Promotion
Hotels sometimes use popular events, movies or other pop culture tie-ins to promote their rooms, special
amenities or motivation for traveling in the first place. For example, the popular book "Fifty Shades of Grey"
and others in the series have led some hotels located in Washington state -- where the books are set -- to promote
stays at their properties. The hotels combine the theme of a secret getaway for amorous couples with
accouterments used by characters in the books, like a certain type of wine or a re-created scene. With popular tie-
ins, hotels are able to turn the focus away from their rooms and convince guests they are buying something of a
fantasy escape instead.

Newsletter Spots
Producing your own newsletter can help you keep in touch with customers and encourage loyalty, but you can
leverage newsletters from complementary businesses to expand your marketing reach. Local tourist attractions
that maintain a newsletter may accommodate an advertisement. Some even may allow you to author an article or
other newsletter content that you can use to tout your hotel.

Help Meeting Planners

If your hotel offers meeting or conference space, you can market your property by catering to event planners. An
array of magazines -- such as PROMO, Successful Meetings and Event Solutions -- cater to professional
organizers, and you may be able to submit a news release or even write a regular column for these publications.
If you are experienced with event planning, you may consider volunteering for speaking engagements at
conferences that cater to event planning. Be sure to offer useful, relevant information in addition to marketing
your hotel, however, as relevance helps planners keep your property in mind.

Pamper Customers
No matter how many TV commercials and slick brochures you distribute, it may be difficult to attract customers
if you do not offer at least a few attractive amenities. By partnering with third-party concierge services and video
content providers, you can offer customers luxurious services such as personal assistants and Internet video
streaming. Touting these perks in your marketing materials distinguishes your hotel from the competition and
wins new customers looking for pampering or a special stay.

2. Competitive analysis—Know your competition inside and out. What is the condition of
their product? Who are their top accounts? What rates are they charging, and what is their
volume? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How is their staffing and service? Know
the answers to these questions and you will be in a good position.

In the research the respondents where asked to identify the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats of the Hotel X.
Strengths:
- Location
- Size of the hotel
- No outsourced workforce
- Privately owned family company
- Transportation connection to the centre of Helsinki
- Kiinko
- Staff
- Home-like feeling
- Wireless internet
- Regular customers
- Individual service
- Hierarchy among the staff44
- Staff’s possibility to influence who gets chosen for a new employee
- Hotel Vip club/ Hotel express
All of the respondents thought that the location of the hotel is one of its
strengths. Mostly because it is located in the same building as Kiinko, so it
makes it very convenient for the students to stay at the hotel during their
courses at Kiinko. And the hotel’s location in Malmi is also very good for
it is almost right next to the train and bus station. This improves its
accessibility from the centre of Helsinki as well as from the airport. Even
though there is no direct shuttle from the airport to the hotel, the public
transportation airport bus stops at the train station as well.
The size of the hotel was also categorized as a strength and was thought to
contribute to numerous other factors as well. Being a small hotel it gives
the opportunity to serve each customer more personally for the employees
have more time to do so compared to a bigger hotel. This makes the new
and old customers feel comfortable and welcomed and it also creates a
home-like feeling in the hotel. The fact that the hotel is a privately owned
family business also contributes to this. Many customers appreciate the
fact that it is a small family business and choose the hotel for that
particular reason rather than for example going to a bigger chain hotel.
The restaurant in the hotel is run by a different company but all other
employees are the hotel’s own staff. This is also seen as a strength. For
example the housekeeping staff has not been outsourced and the
employees of the hotel see this as a positive thing for it makes the
communication between the reception and housekeeping easy and
efficient. Also often a hotel’s own housekeeping staff is more motivated to
keep things in order and their work up to standard compared to an outside
firm working for the hotel. The respondents also thought that the staff
altogether is very good in the hotel; there is a good atmosphere among the
employees. It was also thought that the fact that there is not really any 45
hierarchy levels among the staff besides the hotel manager which
contributes to easy distribution of information for example in customer
service related situations, especially when they have to be dealth with right
away or as soon as possible.
As the number of employees in the hotel is so small respondents thought
that it is even more important that everybody work well together. When
recruiting new employees the hotel manager usually chooses a couple of
candidates that come to practice to the hotel with the old employees. After
this the manager asks the employees’ opinion on who they think is the best
choice to hire. The respondents thought the fact that the employees are an
important part in recruiting a new employee is a strength for it results in
choosing a new staff member that really gets along both with the
customers and the other employees.
The hotel Vip Club and Hotel express are organizations that offer annual
membership to its customers. All the members get a Hotel Vip Club or
Hotel Express-card that allows them to get accommodation for half the
price at hotels which have joined the organization. Hotel X offers these
half the price-deals for the members and all the respondents agree that it is
a useful and good working partnership. On those nights that the hotel is
booked to its capacity it does not have to offer the special rate for the
members. But when there are rooms available, many Hotel Vip Club –and
Hotel Express members find their way to Hotel X. This results in selling
rooms that would probably otherwise go empty for the night. It is more
profitable for the Hotel X to sell these rooms for a lower rate than not sell
them at all. 46
Weaknesses:
- Out-dated
- Marketing
- Homepage on the internet
- Size of the hotel
- Communication between employees
- Utilizing of the employee’s strengths
- Location
- Slow seasons; summer and weekends
- Slow evening/nightlife

8.5. Action Plan

All of the respondents brought up similar marketing objectives as well as action
plans on how these objectives can be reached. The respondents felt that most of
all everything has to have clear instructions on who is in charge of what and what
kind of authorization does everybody have to do these marketing actions.
8.5.1. New customer groups
Sport teams:
Contact sport –and ice halls in Malmi and other areas near by. See what events
they have coming up, negotiate with them if they would like to advertise Hotel
X’s accommodation services in their newsletters and other information outlets
concerning the up coming events. Also research and contact the near by sport
teams and see what events they have coming within the year and negotiate and
offer accommodation services to other sport teams coming to these events. 55
Companies within the near by area of Hotel X:
Make a list of the companies in Malmi, Pukinmäki and other near by areas of the
Hotel. Research them first, see what kind of needs they could possible have in
regard to accommodation services. Then contact them and start offering the hotel
services and negotiating pricing and other relevant issues.
Stay in contact with the Haaga-Helia Polytechnic and see what events they have
in the future and how the hotel X can provide restaurant services to those events.
Internet:
Find out why some of the online travel agents have not been producing so many
customers compared to the past. Re-construct the hotel’s webpages and make
clear instructions who is in charge of them and who can update them. See what
other possible channels could be used in the internet for example Facebook.
8.5.2. Relationship Marketing
Customer contact and accommodation data:
Start collecting and observing more detailed information on the customers’
 contact information as well as accommodation data; how many times a particular
guest has stayed in the hotel X, had he/she any preferences in regards to the room
or could this customer be considered to be a loyal customer.
Feedback:
Go through all the feedback immediately as it arrives; the feedback forms from
the rooms, face to face with customers and feedback that comes through the
hotel’s own webpages. Assign each feedback to the guest who wrote it and
evaluate whether it is necessary to contact the customer. Make sure all the
employees have the necessary knowledge and authorization to react to negative
feedback right away or as soon as possible. Answer also to all improvement
suggestions and positive feedback for example by email. 56
Loyal customer-programme:
Develop a loyal customer-programme. It does not necessarily require a
membership card, only a well-done system where to follow the customers and
how many times they have stayed at the hotel. Maybe give them some bonuses or
some kind of other benefits for their loyal customership. Gather and maintain a
list of items or other bonuses that the loyal customer can receive; discount on the
room rate, better room type, chocolates/free beverages / other items delivered to
the room before arrival.
8.5.3. Campaigns
Plan and develop different kinds of marketing campaigns and offers. They can be
derived for example from the different seasons or holidays. They can be directed
to specific customer group, for example a special loyal customer-month or during
summertime special campaign for sport groups. Market these campaigns on the
hotel’s webpages. Create and develop new campaigns on monthly bases.
8.5.4. Internal Marketing
Have mandatory staff meetings to keep the employees up dated on the hotel’s
marketing objectives and up coming marketing actions. Give clear instructions
and authorization so that the employees are aware of their duties and what they
are allowed to do in different customer related situations. Maybe even have a
written blueprint ready for the situations.
Involve and utilize the staff in researching new customer groups and developing
loyal customer-programme.

Target Market Strategy

Our primary targets continue to be professional visitors to the region  from the
following industries, where annual corporate contracts can be entered into:

 Travel trade;

 IT industry;

 Automotive.
Local firms will be targeted for day use of conference facilities, room nights for visiting
executives and long stay professional guests.
 Critical issues for the Riverview include:

 Continuing to differentiate from our competition and offering added value to our
guests.
 Retaining our current levels of repeat business and developing further customer
loyalty in a competitive market.